UAE KSA discuss Aber Digital Currency during Crown Prince Visit to UAE

During the recent visit of Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Crown Prince of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi last week, and his meeting with H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, various topics were discussed including the joint digital currency Aber that has been in the making since early 2019.

Earlier this year, reports stated that six commercial banks, three from UAE and three from KSA would be participating in the joint digital currency project “Aber”. It had noted that the project would be completed within a year after SAMA and UAE Central Bank announced the Aber project in January.

During this recent visit just a month before the end of the year, the two countries KSA and UAE have reaffirmed their plans to launch the joint digital currency that would enable trading between the banks in the two countries as reported by Sky News Arabia. In addition discussion also covered the building of a giant oil refinery with a capacity of 1.2 million Barrels a day, and the enhancement of cyber security between Saudi Arabia and the UAE to prevent attacks. The Saudi-UAE Co-ordination Council also reviewed strategic initiatives, including a joint tourist visa for residents of both countries.

IBM had previously mentioned that it was the company working on the Aber project as published by UNLOCK in the past. 

The announcement made recently by H.H. Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and that of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed reaffirm the commitment of these two countries to launch the project in the near future. If this does happen this will be the first time Arab countries come close to a common currency even though if it will only be used between banks.